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Lecture series planned for college

A well-known Salmon Arm citizen is sponsoring a lecture series at Okanagan College that has left college officials ecstatic.

“We’re thrilled – we’ve been trying to get a guest lecture and workshop series off the ground for a few years,” Jim Barmby, regional dean, Shuswap-Revelstoke, told the Observer.

Dan MacQuarrie will be sponsoring workshops and lectures that focus on three areas:

• increasing awareness about aboriginal culture and history; • the environment; and • social justice and peace.

The first lecture, on Wednesday, March 12, 7 p.m. at the Salmar Classic, will be presented by Dr. James Wood and entitled, The 144th Battalion, C.E.F: The First World War and Indigenous Rights in Canada. It will focus on the 4,000 soldiers of indigenous descent who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Barmby referred to the series during his talk at the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Business Forum Feb. 19.

He also mentioned the 20 acres donated by Jerry Thompson. Barmby said the college has two main goals: to increase sustainability of the college by increasing enrolment, which will mean becoming a destination college with niche programs such as environmental studies and agriculture.

The second goal is to create a downtown campus, a community-driven plan. To that end, the college will sign a memorandum of agreement with the University of the Fraser Valley in March to explore delivering some of its programs in Salmon Arm.

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